Four's Company
ISRAEL DIGEST'
Southfield's Eagle Bear Associates is honored
by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
STEVE STEIN STAFF WRITER
W
estinghouse was repre-
sented, and so was an-
other international
business giant, Motoro-
la. Cornerstone, a firm from Min-
nesota which will be profiled this
fall on the "60 Minutes" televi-
sion show, also was there.
Rounding out the quartet of
companies at the U.S. Depart-
ment of Commerce last week was
Eagle Bear Associates, a three-
year-old firm headquartered in a
modest Southfield office complex.
The four were in Washington,
D.C., to be recognized for their co-
operative business ventures in
the former Soviet Union, now
called the Commonwealth of In-
dependent States (CIS).
Michael Kuchersky, an Eagle
Bear vice president, is a Russian
Jewish emigre who arrived in De-
troit from Moscow in 1976. Eagle
Bear president William Har-
rington, who was in Washington
for the ceremony, says Mr. Kuch-
ersky is a major reason for the
company's success. Eagle Bear
earned $3 million in the 1993 fis-
cal year.
ing business in the former Sovi-
et Union and Eagle Bear has
used the service extensively.
"It's a fantastic resource," Mr.
Harrington said. "It provides an-
swers to every question a com-
pany might have when it
considers a business venture with
the new republics."
Since its formation in 1991,
Eagle Bear has coordinated the
construction of a shampoo man-
ufacturing and bottling plant in
the Central Asian republic of
Tadjikistan and the importation
of Russian-made lumber prod-
pact agricultural reform in the
CIS.
Eagle Bear is working with
Michigan State University and
six major U.S. companies to de-
velop and implement a program
which could replace the old com-
munist collective system.
The first American Farm Cen-
ter would serve as a prototype
from which trained workers
would construct similar centers
in the grain-growing regions of
the CIS.
Early this month, a delegation
of business executives from the
Specially compiled by The Jerusalem Post
—$1 EQUALS 3.0520 NIS (shekels) - Close Price 6/22/94—
U.S., Israel Are High-Tech Partners
Israel and the United States
each will contribute $15 million
over the next three years to
fund joint high-tech projects,
Industry and Trade Minister
Micha Harish and U.S. Com-
merce Secretary Ron Brown re-
vealed in Washington.
The announcement followed
a periodic meeting of the U.S.-
Israel Science and Technology
Commission, a forum founded
last year at the initiative of
President Bill Clinton. The
group is scheduled to convene
again in Israel in September.
Israel and American indus-
trialists and government offi-
cials identified three fields in
which they will begin work im-
mediately: biotechnology— in-
cluding expanding fish reserves
and drawing sea minerals —
telecommunication and drug
development.
Mr. Harish said he expected
Israel to contribute substan-
tially to the American-led
telecommunication superhigh-
way through the commission.
A Run For The Border
An exhibition of Israeli-made
industrial and commercial
products will be held soon on
the Lebanese border despite
the continuing tension in the
region.
The fair will be held at the
Biranit border crossing. It is be-
ing organized by the Haifa and
north branches of the Israel
Manufacturers Association in
conjunction with the Trade and
Industry Ministry.
The purpose of the exhibition
is to display Israeli-manufac-
tured goods to Lebanese busi-
nessmen with hopes of selling
the products to the Lebanese
market or for export to other
Arab countries.
Manufacturers Association
officials are optimistic that the
development of trade ties would
help bring calm to the area as
well as strengthen ties between
Israel and Lebanon.
A New Plant in Jerusalem
A major project
could impact
agricultural reform
in the CIS.
Copley Pharmaceuticals, a generic pharmaceutical plant
United States subsidiary of in Jerusalem. Copley, whose
German chemicals and phar- shares are traded on NASDAQ,
maceuticals giant Hoechst, has will invest $16.6 million in the
received Israel Investment factory, which will employ
Center approval to set up a about 50 workers.
"Mike is our operations guy.
He turns a vision of a project into
reality," Mr. Harrington said.
"Not only is he a communications
link, he also understands the So-
viet business mentality and he
has extensive business experi-
ence here."
"We have to teach them pa-
tience," Mr. Kuchersky said
about businessmen in the CIS.
"They want such a quick return
on their projects because they've
had so few opportunities."
Eagle Bear and the other three
companies were invited to Wash-
ington to help celebrate the two-
year anniversary of the BISNIS
(Business Information Service for
the Newly Independent States)
program run by the Commerce
Department.
BISNIS is billed as a "one-stop
shopping" information clearing-
house for firms interested in do-
Freightliner, an American and Mann freight trucks
trucking firm, has won a ten- presently in use by the IDF.
der, via Israeli importer Col- Under the contract, Freight-
mobile, to supply freight trucks liner will supply some 500
for the IDF. GM-Volvo and In- trucks for the IDF over the next
ternational-Navistar also com- five years.
peted for the tender.
The deal will be financed
Freightliner's $40 million con- with funds from foreign aid.
tract with the IDF was signed The trucks will be sent to Israel
this week in New York.
in parts and assembled in
The firm's FLC-112 trucks Nazareth.
will replace all the Mercedes
IDF Keeps On Truckin'
Michael Kuchersky: Vision into reality.
ucts into Canada, among other
projects.
Eagle Bear also organizes ed-
ucational and business trips to
the United States for high-level
CIS business executives in the
auto, lumber, oil and gas indus-
tries who want to explore busi-
ness opportunities.
On the horizon for Eagle Bear
is a major project which could im-
CIS will be in Detroit to finalize
details and financing. They'll also
go to Michigan State to meet with
MSU officials and tour the farm
facilities there.
While in East Lansing, the del-
egation will have discussions
with representatives from the six
partner companies and the Duke
University Fuqua School of Busi-
ness.111
Koor Buys Some Wheels
Koor Industries of Israel an-
Eurodollar, which has nine
nounced it has signed an agree- branches in Israel, owns a fleet
ment to purchase a 50 percent of 1,200 vehicles, including 350
stake in the Eurodollar Rent- rented through leasing con-
a-Car company for $1 million tracts. Approximately one-third
from the Fiat-Lancia-Alfa of the company's vehicles were
group. The purchase will be purchased last month in the
made through Koor Tourism framework of its policy to re-
Projects, a fully-owned sub- place cars after the first 20,000
sidiary of Koor.
kilometers.
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